Computing-machine.



No. 842,138. PATENTED JAN. 22, 1907.

` A. S. DENNIS. COMPUTNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. z5, 1905. RBNBWBD'DBG. 2z. 190ev z SHEETS-SHEET 1.

o. l Z 3 :r Z I 2 g E 5 3 4 l f 5 A d, 6 6 Y 6 7 d P Nmf M 91 92 92. 92 A 93 93 93 94 94 94 g5 95 95 9s 9e 96- 9'? 97 97 98 9B 98 '99 99 99 100 100 Nol 842,138 PATENTEDJAN. 22, 19074. A. S. DENNIS.

COMPUTING MACHINE;

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT.25,1905. RENEWED DB0.22.1906.

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l//TA/ESSES.` I J/WENTOR. u

UNITED STATES OFFICE.

ADOLPHUS S. DENNIS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE CALULUS COMPANY.

.COMPUTING-MACHINE..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 22, '1,9'07.

Application led September 25, 1905. Renewed December 22, 1906. Serial No. 349.161.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be itknown that I, ADOLPHUS S. DENNIS,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State oi' Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in ComputingMa chines; an I do declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, which will enable others skilled in Io the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

My invention' relates t0 computing-machines, and. is an improvement on a machine for which an application was filed by me Dei cember 19, 1904, Serial No. 237,439; and the improvement consists in the construction and combination of parts substantially as shown and described, and more particularly pointed out in the clains.

My aim is to produce a simple computing device of small size with .a wide range of Work and wherein the manipulation is speedy and definite and especially adaptable for quick lresults and whereby any given amount 2 5 or sum may be computed and the'answer read at a glance. As shown, the machine is adapted 'for computing sums in multiplicationo'r division, but is not necessarily limited to this use.

the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan or Vface view of the machine broken away its center, and Fig. 2 is a f'ace view el' the index-plate used in said machine. Fig. As-section of the index-plate above Fig. 4 is a cross-section of difer- ,.rtions of thernachine looking in from .f .1. a', Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section or; line y y, Fig. 4, and Wit-h the central v portion of the device broken away. Figs. 6,

.to if, and 8 are separate face views of the conrputation-sheets attached to the first, second, and third set of rollers, respectively.

. yOne of the main and most important features ol my improved machine ir, embodied in the plural arrangement of independentlyrotatable sets of rollers A, B, and C, each set of which is' adapted to operate singly for the computation of arithmetic problems or in f znbination and jointly when used with an -plate D. To these ends I utilize sepaets of ierible strips, the opposite ends ...ich are fastened to the cppositely-arl ranged roller 'in each set, and which sheet is l adapted to wind upon one roller as it is unwound from the other roller, ajoint action '55 and the rotation of both .rollers in the same direction being provided 'for by gearing, as hereinafter more fully described Each set of rollers A,'-B, and C is thus equippedjwith' sheets a, b, and c, respectively, andl each sheet is provided upon its exposed f ace wlth columns of lieures in parallel lines and with a designatinggure at the top of each column, which represents either the multiplicand or divisor of each item in its respective column. Inthe present instance sheet c has a series of parallel columns numbered `from 1" to 100, inclusive, and the items ineach column represent either the product or the 'dividend as.,.related to the designating-figure at the top, Aand said items are consecutively arranged to aline with certain 'figures upon index-plate D, numbered from 1 to 100, inclusive, to represent the multiplier or quotient of an example in either multiplication or division, as the case maybe.

Index-plate D is slotted at (Z in the several places directly over the dillerent sets of rollers to expose single columns of 'figures upon the respective sheets, and as said sets of rollers are independently rotatable any desired colf umn may be brought to view. Thus, for eX'- ample, if 2 was the known nuzltiplicand sheet a upon rollers A would be operated to bring the colun'xn designated by 2 into view, as seen in Fig. 1, and then choosing any one of the figures upon the indeX-plate-say 100-it will be seen at a glance that the product is 200, which latter `figure is dif rectly opposite upon sheet (L. 9o

Sheets b and c are exactly similar in arrangement and operate the same'as sheet a above described, except that different figures are used. Thus sheet a has its columns of figures arranged and designated from 1 to 100, inclusivevvhereas.sheet b is nurnbered and arranged `from 101 to 200, inclusive, and sheet c from 201 to 300, inclusive. Thus the three sheets taken tget'ner have threer hundred columnsv of figures, each column of which is designated at its head by its proper number. Any one of the three sheets may be operated to bring any particular column into view to read the i by a lioint use of the several sets ol' rollers and would be somewhat different, as the correct answer in a problem of multiplication or divi- I sionxiwithin the range of the figures on the selected column and the index-plate.

. Ina problem of multiplication the indexplate column of figures represents a multiplier, the heading at the to of any column l on either sheet represents 't e-multiplicand, i and any item of a column of figures upon the said sheet re resents theproduct-that-is, l each iteni of t e sheet opposite the item upon l the index-plate being the .product thereoic and of the muliplicand at the top of the exi posed column of the sheet. To iiid the qiiol tient in a problem oi division, the number at the head of any column upon either sheet is used as the divisor any number in a column on said sheet as the dividend, and the numberen the index-plate opposite the one selected on said sheet is the quotient. T hus the true and correct answer for anyproblem i in multiplication ordivision may be readily ascertained by bringing any one ol the coli umns of figures on the sheet attached to the rollers into View o )posite the column oi iigiires on the index-plate, and the range of multiplication and division is only limited by the number oi" columns or number of iigures in i each column. For practical reasons there i must be a limit; otherwisethe device would be too cumbersome to handle because oi' its size. l have there'lore conceived the idea of a plurality ot sets of rollers aiid separate sheets arranged side by side, said rollers being independently rotatable and each additional set ci rollers andsheets therefor having columns of figures of higher denomination than the one preceding. The advantage" of thisconstruction arises from the l'aet thats separate sheets a very wide range of arithmetical problems can be easily and quickly computed; To illustrate this point, let iis take an example in multiplication wherein the niiil'tiplicand runs into the thousands and, say, is oi' four figures, as 2101. The highest iiiultiplicand is 300 and is on sheet c, and tlierel'ore no single roll or sheet has the product thereon; but by using rollers A and B and sheets i and b said iniiltiplieand and the product ol` any multiplier upon the indexplate can be obtained thus: Roller A would be operated to bring column "2 on sheete into view, as seen in Fig. 1, and then rollers B would be rotated to expose column 101. Then reading from left to right the heading numbers ot' sheets a and b read 2 101 as the multiplicand. Now taking any item upon the index-plate as the muliplier say 3 the product is seen opposite said multiplier, a portion upon each sheet, and must be read from left to right, the total appearing as t', on sheet a and v 2,03 on sheet l) and reading 6303, as the correct product. If l0 were used for the muitiplierhthe reading product is obtained by adding the products upon each sheet opposite the muliplier l0 together, thus:

ln this ease the coluiiin2, roll A, does not sta-nd alone as a units-column, but becomes the thousamls-coliiimi, and the units, tens, and hundreds column is on thev roll to the right. Taking a still larger number as th miiltiplicaiid to bring the rollers C and she^t into use-say f 2, l 01,25@ -and using NG as the multiplier, the product is obtainedby rotating rollers A to bring eolumn"2into view, tlieii rotating rollers B to expose collumn 10i and finally operating rollers C to expose column 2.5i Column 2, roll L, becomes the millions-column and six imaginary ciplicrs are added to the item on,

sheet (t opposite the multiplier on the indexplate, the column on sheet t, rollers B, represented by lOl becomes the thousands, tensoiltliousands, and liundied-ci-thoiisaiids column and three imagiiiaryciphers are added to the item on sheet I) opposite the multiplier selected, and finally the column on sheet c, representedby 250, becomes the units, tens, and hundreds column. The three items on the respective sheets opposite the multiplier sclected--in this example 200 "L- are 'added together thus:

zee ooo ooo io ico ooo 25 eee 2io,i25,ooo

given, and any product can be thus obtained having any given multiplicand and a multiplier Within the .number of the columns ou the several sheets and the itemson the nidex plate.

tails of construction, it will be seen that the device comprises a rectangular boxr or casing Referring nour more particularly tro the de- E open at its top, excepting for a glass cover F, which rests over and upon index-plate D. Caps or pieces e inclosc the casing at its ends and confine and hold the various parts iii place. Rollers A, B, and C have each trunmons or a shaft q witlrbearmgs m inner vWalls or plates G, and eacli roller has a pinion H at one end of its shaft or triiniiion. Each set ci' rollers and its pinions are provided with a gear I, which meshes with each pair of piiiions ll, and said gear is mounted on a short shaft J, projecting through plate G and end cap e, and a tliiiiiib-iiiit or milled head K vfor said shai't at the outside of said casing is used to rotate each gear I and its respective drive-pinions and rollers independently of the other sets.

Each roller of the'respective sets of rollers is provided with a disk or washer K', mount- .ed on the end thereof and between and lush with pinion H on shaft 3, and each washer fits within anopening L in plate M, forming a division-wall between the rollers and the gearin at one 'end of the casing, and said plate urther serves to guide the strips a, b,

and c in true alinement upon their respective ber 2 on thefirst sheet Cb, then 101 on l the s'econd'sheetb, then 250 on the third sheet c, so that the combined figures at the top of the sheets will read from eft to right The multiplier 83 is seen in three places in line across the index-plate, one for each sheet, and the answer is found by beginning at the right and may be written down on paper step by step, if desired, and in that event the first ,item of the answer to be marked -down would be 750', forming part of the number 20,750, which is found under the column headed 250, directly opposite the index-figure 83 at the sideof said column. Then the 20, which is the thousands of said number 20,750 on sheet c., is carried over to the columntieaded 101 and added to the figure 8,383 shown opposite index-'figure 83 at the side of said column 101, thereby ina-king the sum of 8,403,750 Then the 8, .representing millions in this column, would be added to the number 160 in the millions-column on sheet a., and which number t" 100 is readily found as marked by index-l ign re S3, oppositesaideolumnon sheet e. Thecorrectproduct, 174,40.;750, is thus obtained without mistake or confusion, as each part of the answer is identified the same index-figure at the several columns. Afinother example, showing the desirahhity oa having index-iigures in close proximityr to nach column, is to be found in a problem combining both mull tiplieation and division. "lhus, supposing the number "0,303" to be divided by T101` and the quotient thereof to be multiplied by 25" 9,393. on sheet under the column headed .1"101, and then the miolient is at once, seen 1 is number 03. New to multiply this aan, the first step is to find p y referring to thc,` index-column opposite sind number 0,303" and whieh in this ease to the index-column for sheet c, and when the column headed 250 is shown up the number in said column opposite the number 93 of the index-column will at once disclose the correct product, which in this example is 23,250

1. In a computing-machine, a casing having visual openings, two or more pairs of roll` ers in axial alinement, the rollers of each pair bein superposed one above the other, whereby tie top rollers may be brought close together, and each pair being independently operative, in 'combination with an index- -strip fixed between each pair of rollers and having in each instance the same series of index-numbers thereupon, the same numbers in each series being in horizontalV alinement, and a separate sheet for each pair of rollers having columns ofiigures inparallel alinement adapted to show through said visual openin s, said openings being adjacent to and paral el with said index-strips, and the corresponding numbers on the sheets and index-strips being also in horizontal alinement.

2. In a computing-machine, a casing having visual openings, two or more pairs of rollers in axial alinement, the rollers of each pair bein@` superposed one above the other, whereby tIie top rollers may be brought close together, and each pair being independently operative, in combination with an indexstrip fixed between each pair of rollers and having in each instance the same series of index numbers, -running .from 1 to 100 thereupon, the same numbers in each series being in horizontal alinement, and a separate sheet for each pair of rollers having columns of iivures in parallel alinement adapted to show through said visual openings, said openings being adjacent to and parallel with said index-strips, and the correspondingy numbers on the sheets and index-strips bel nal for the driving-gear, and a washer upon the end of each roIler iitting within an opening in said division-wall.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

ADOLPHUS S. DENNIS.

lNi tnesses R. B. Mossa, C. A. SE'-.L 

